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Entries from October 31st, 2006

A Tale of Three Manuals

October 31st, 2006 · 1 Comment · Uncategorized

It’s commonplace for longtime gamers like me to complain about the dearth of big, honking manuals like they made Back in The Day. The truth is, manuals as instruction booklets aren’t as important as they used to be since tutorials and easily accessible in-game documentation make them redundant. Three recent manuals have reignited some of […]

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Class mobility in the city

October 29th, 2006 · Comments Off on Class mobility in the city · Uncategorized

Tocqueville called America a “classless society” and he was mostly right, at least in 19th century terms. People in 1830s America weren’t generally born to privilege and you could work your way into Congress or the Presidency from backwoods adventures and Indian fighting. Things have changed a little now, but this isn’t a political blog […]

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Not Hype-notized.

October 24th, 2006 · 5 Comments · Uncategorized

I am probably one of the only strategy gamers on Earth not the least bit excited about Supreme Commander. It’s not far off, and the media blitz is in full swing. Interviews, previews, new screenshots…there is every expectation by the media and the fanbase that the early 2007 release is going to be huge. I […]

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Interview with Bruce Shelley

October 23rd, 2006 · Comments Off on Interview with Bruce Shelley · Uncategorized

My Civ Chronicles background interview with Bruce Shelley has been distributed to a variety of places. You can find it here at Shacknews. Shelley added some of his own reminiscences of working on Civilization as part of a Chronicles idea that didn’t quite pan out. Shelley’s reflections underline just how difficult game production used to […]

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Slow pace of updates

October 22nd, 2006 · Comments Off on Slow pace of updates · Uncategorized

I apologize for the slow pace of updates lately. My desk is full of work for three different outlets, plus I want to shop around a review for Dominions 3. I also need to get my indie column finished. So this is a bad time to get sick. On the plus side, it’s steady work, […]

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Do the Right Thing, Microsoft

October 18th, 2006 · Comments Off on Do the Right Thing, Microsoft · Uncategorized

I’m not much of a crusader. I’m too reasonable and pragmatic to carry grudges against Electronic Arts or Microsoft or Sony. I am a mature individual. But when one of the good guys is about to get the raw end of a deal, I like to speak up. Even if he is a crusader. Not […]

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